Madden would have told Dez: “Get your butt back here”

If he were coaching the Cowboys today, Hall of Famer John Madden said he would have reeled in wide receiver Dez Bryant before his emotional early exit last week.

But he also knows because the way Bryant has been handled up to this point, that particular cow(boy) is out of the barn.

“There’s no excuse for it,” Madden told Rich Gannon and Adam Schein on SiriusXM NFL Radio (via the Dallas Morning News). “Because he’s such a good player, we’re all going to make excuses for him. What he did was wrong.”

Asked what he would have told Bryant, Madden began with “Get your butt back here.”

“There are some things that you let go, and then when things go poorly, you can’t pull them back,” Madden said. “Dez Bryant has been in and out of the doghouse and I don’t know if they ever got him straight. They were a little lax on him when he first came in as a rookie. Maybe they let him do things they shouldn’t have, things that they have to live with now.”

The coddling of Bryant early on can certainly create the sense that there’s a different set of rules for him. And some of the behavior he’s displayed makes it appear he very much believes that, and can explain it away by being “emotional,” as if others aren’t.

Not going to say hes a complete waste of talent because he makes things happen but hes not living up to his full potential

faaqna says:Dec 19, 2013 7:36 AM

Where’s Mike Singletary when you need him. Vernon Davis seems to have turned around his selfish behavior.
Imo, Dallas receives way too much media attention just because of the team’s dysfunction and the owner’s ceaseless desire to over-promote what now is a very average NFL team. Hyping up unattainable goals only puts added pressure on the players and coaches. Jerry needs to let go of his ego and hire a competent GM, and then get completely out of the way before it ever can become a dominant franchise as it was in the past.

The sad part is that if and when he matures mentally, his physical skills may be fading.

Complete waste of talent.

peytonwantsaflag says:Dec 19, 2013 8:32 AM

ironically though it’s partly Madden’s fault for this type of behavior. This video game culture has helped create a glut of me-first individuals unable to exist in a team atmosphere that can just put the controller down and quit any time they feel like it (of course video games aren’t the only problem, there’s also terrible parenting by coach/parents with more money than sense and the whole AAU plague)

An awful lot of physical talent in this country just not enough good, quality coaches and mentors to to mold it.

You know I’d rather have Dez and his occasional head scratchers, then some of the other issues that prima donna WRs have had. Cris Carter was snorting up thousands of dollars up his nose each week. Randy Moss was openly selfish about when and how much effort he gave, TO caused problems at every stop. I’ll take Dez’s immaturity. Eventually he’ll grow up. At least his heart is in the right place. Ask any Cowboy if he’s a bad teammate.